William Iron Arm

William Iron Arm (1010-1046) was Count of Apulia and Calabria from 1042 to 1046, preceding Drogo of Hauteville.

Biography
William was one of the eight sons of Tancred of Hauteville, and he and his family arrived in southern Italy in 1035 to serve under the Norman warlord Rainulf Drengot, Count of Aversa. From 1038 to 1040, the Norman brothers fought for the Byzantines against the Moors of Sicily, and William was nicknamed "Iron Arm" for single-handedly slaying the Emir of Syracuse during the siege of that city. After the Byzantine general George Maniakes insulted the Lombard leader Arduin the Lombard, the non-Greek soldiers in the Byzantine army deserted. In 1041, the Normans joined Arduin's rebellion against the Greeks, and, in 1042, William's Norman army defeated the Byzantines at Olivento and Montemaggiore, and William was rewarded by Guaimar IV of Spoleto with the title "Count of Apulia and Calabria". William and Guaimar then campaigned against the Byzantines in Calabria, and William built the castle of Stridula near Squillace in 1044. In 1045, William was defeated near Taranto by Argyrus, and he died in 1046 and was succeeded by Drogo of Hauteville, his brother.